“God only knows where my mother was, we didn’t even share a zip code, much less a zipped dress. I hopped in my car, which you can see was chalk full of clothes, because to be honest, I lived out of it half the time. Didn’t I look so happy?”
‘Here am I, leaving my house for prom. Yes, MY house I shared with a roommate. I had no one to zip me up. I wrestled with my dress for half an hour, finally getting it zipped with a coat hanger.’
‘At this point, even if we get him back, his brain…,’ the doctor trailed off. I pulled his mom into me to hide her from this. ‘I won’t tell you to stop,’ I told the doctor. ‘I won’t ever tell you to stop.’
“We sat on her porch in the sun – and my phone rang. It was my husband. I answered, but something was different. He was panicked. That wasn’t like him. When I got there, I saw it. A work boot. Cut open, stained with blood.”
‘I had to tell them. ‘Your dad died by suicide.’ Words I knew would change their lives forever. Words no child should hear. I had to be honest with them. I was terrified.’
“My husband of 16 years. My best friend. The father to my 9 and 12-year-old beautiful boys. He left that morning for work. He never came home. I never saw his beautiful smile again. He just never came home.”
‘I was the victim of a rape. I had a professor who propositioned me, a boyfriend who passed away, a stalker, and cancer—twice. I’m no stranger to a painful past.’
“Easter is about waiting. I know, that sounds absurd. This is a holiday about a Friday free from work and fake grass you’ll be finding around your house for the remainder of the year. It’s about Peeps and your people. A guy on a cross and a guy in a (rather scary) bunny suit. Jesus waited 3 days; it took me 33 years.”
‘I couldn’t believe it. I opened the pregnancy test and there was my first ever positive. BIG FAT POSITIVE! Baby was the size of a pearl. ‘That’s not good.’ Dr. Hiener said. ‘Did she fall out?’
“Our doctor couldn’t do the emergency surgery. My father-in-law did. I tried to enjoy every moment I had with her. Jason and I were surrounded by love, and so was our little girl.”
‘I got implants after having a baby. I truly thought, ‘No big deal.’ I started having pain, EVERYWHERE. I pulled in to a gas station and called my husband. ‘SOMETHING IS WRONG WITH ME.’
“Then one day I met someone. I started reading the posts and asking questions. I found woman after woman with stories that mirrored mine. They were ME! I was THEM! Some were so sick they were on the verge of death, LITERALLY. This is when everything changed. Suddenly, I knew I needed to get them out of me ASAP.”
‘I gave my last hug to my mom and sister-in-law, Taylor. Our car hit a puddle, hydroplaned, flipped 3 times and hit a tree.’
“Jacob talks of that night and the reality of how nightmarish it was. When he came to, my head was dripping blood and he thought there was no way I could still be alive.”
‘I thought, ‘How is THIS nothing to worry about?’ The walls were closing in. Everything turned black and I couldn’t move my body. ‘It’s common for college students to be under a lot of stress.’
“I decided to request one specific blood test; one that was much harder to receive than it should have been. I had to basically force my doctor to test me. One week later, I was finally given the answer I had been longing so badly for.”
‘She looked me dead in the eye. ‘What is it? Did the man leave?’ I can tell she was scared, her face went pale. Then I called 911.’
“I remember her concentrating on a certain part of my shirt, of course, I was scared. I never made it seem as if she was alone in this journey.”
‘You’re going to have to get off Facebook, the sadness is overwhelming and it’s time for you to take a break.’ My heart broke every day. It was way too close to home.’
“‘Bridgette is going to need more than a lemonade stand, we need to do something to make her smile and raise money.’ She pointed to one of the dresses and said ‘Mom these dresses are beautiful, maybe the lady who makes these can make mine?’ I looked up the designers and with a hopeful heart we reached out.”